Historic prisoner exchange between Russia and the West

The exchange involved 26 prisoners from 7 countries: Russia, the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus.

Russia and the West carried out the largest prisoner exchange since World War II this Thursday at Ankara airport, Turkish media report.

It is detailed that the exchange was carried out under the coordination of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization. “Our organization assumed an important mediation role in this exchange operation, which is the most complete in recent times,” Turkish Intelligence highlighted.

It is stated that 26 prisoners from seven countries were exchanged: Russia, the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus. Ten of them are heading to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the US.

The Turkish intelligence services established dialogue channels for this operation. The parties met in Türkiye in July 2024 with the Ankara organization.

Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and US Marine Paul Whelan, both convicted of espionage; German citizen Rico Krieger; the Russian opponent Ilyá Yashin; and Vadim Krasikov, sentenced in Germany to life imprisonment for the murder of a former Chechen commander, are on the list of people exchanged. In addition, the Spanish journalist Pablo González, who was detained in Poland, was released as part of the exchange between Russia and the West.

Previously, Reuters reported that a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West was in the works. The agency detailed that several Russian prisoners were removed from pretrial detention centers and penal colonies where they were held, presumably to prepare them for the exchange.